CEO Insights: Rafael Koenig

What are your clients demanding from you now that they didn’t demand five years ago?

Our industry has in recent years been in a difficult generational transition leading to a knowledge drain caused by the retirement of baby boomers. EPCs and end users are more strongly focused on operational costs and we see more and more of them reducing their in-house capabilities for automation, electrical engineering and connectivity technologies.

Over recent years, we at Weidmüller Australia have developed a capabilities and services portfolio that adds value to our customers’ businesses. From simple rail assembly to specialist solutions in transport, food and beverage and our traditional process and resources based industries, we successfully complement the value chain of our clients. In addition, we see a strong development towards renewable energies and have a range of tailored solutions for still emerging markets in Australia.

How should Australian industry respond to global challenges and competition?

One of the biggest challenges that is evident is the need to improve productivity and efficiencies in operations. The adoption of innovative technologies that we see in many other countries when it comes to digitalisation and data processing is a must to avoid falling behind further. The key for Australian companies will be to invest in knowledge and capabilities, and seek partnerships with other organisations that understand their problems and can solve them. Weidmüller Australia has always been an active participant in our industry community, and as Chairman of the Australian Profibus and Profinet Association (PAA) it is my ambition to foster our collaboration efforts in the industry and play a leading role in improving the competitiveness of our associated members and their customers.

What do you see as the biggest challenges that will face your industry in 2017?

There has been a lot said about the pressure caused by low resources pricing, the lack of competitiveness of our manufacturing sector and the subsequent focus on reducing operational costs. While this will remain true in 2017, I believe that our industry must find ways to invest in knowledge and technology to be able to secure its viability in the long term. There is a threshold where cost-cutting leads to dysfunction and companies need to find the right balance between reducing expenditure and gaining sustainable advantages.

We at Weidmüller offer a host of technical solutions that assist our clients in realising their efficiency objectives. We have made the conscious decision to invest in regional experts who can provide dedicated face-to-face support for our clients and channel partners. For us, it is imperative that we understand our clients’ objectives and translate their needs into tailored solutions.

What new technologies are you seeing gain traction in Australian industry?

There has been a lot of talk about Industry 4.0 or the Industrial Internet of Things. While there is an enormous amount of validity in the opportunities and improvement potentials that our customers link to these megatrends, we feel that the topics are sometimes complex to a point where they are difficult to put in context.

At Weidmüller, we focus on connectivity — and the purpose of connectivity in the digitalised world is to securely and reliably transport data from sender to receiver and vice versa. Digital networks are becoming more and more prevalent and are enabling technologies for Industry 4.0 and IIoT. It is because of this that we heavily invest in products, services and knowledge for industrial network technologies such as Industrial Ethernet.

Would government/industry partnerships assist you in running your business?

Collaboration is essential to produce positive outcomes. In addition to partnerships that have developed with our customers over many years, we are fortunate at Weidmüller that we have a wide-ranging in-depth involvement with organisations such as the Australian Industry Group, the IICA as well as the Profibus and Profinet Association of Australia. As an industry community, we still have a long way to go to make our voices heard, though. When we look at the government’s innovation agenda, we sometimes feel the message limited to start-up companies. However, when you drill deeper into the topic, you find out that hardly any start-ups operate in industries such as manufacturing, mining and infrastructure that carry our economy now.

We, therefore, continue to need partnerships such as industry associations that form alliances and work with the government to bring effective change. For us at Weidmüller it is an obligation to participate and contribute.

Rafael Koenig is the Managing Director of Weidmüller Australia and responsible for all operations, local production, sales and marketing. He has held several senior roles in Australia since migrating from Germany in 1996. In addition to his role at Weidmüller, Rafael is the Chairman of the Profibus and Profinet Association of Australia, the world’s largest association for industrial fieldbus and Ethernet communication networks. With a background in electrical engineering, Rafael Koenig holds a master’s degree in business and technology from the University of NSW, Australia.